By Wayne Henderson -
Goalkeepers are judged on many things, shot stopping, distribution, commanding their area, dealing with crosses etc. One aspect which goes a little unnoticed is the quality of their movement. The ability to move quickly in and around the goal mouth is a very important aspect of being a top class goal keeper. There are many good examples of this, Tottenham Hotspur’s French International goalkeeper Hugo Lloris is one such example. He is extremely quick around his goalmouth but is very rarely off balance when needing to make a save.
Warm-Up
Goalkeepers move through the discs. On instruction from the coach, keeper touches right or left pole, quickly gets into position in the middle of the goal and deals with the serve from the ground.
Coaching Points
- Feet are never crossed over
- Body is facing the ball
- Goalkeeper is in “ready position” as early, and as much as possible throughout the drill
Movement Drill
Goalkeeper moves to post. Feeder 1 plays ball on ground when goalkeeper is set, for ‘keeper to make low save to his/her left side. Goalkeeper quickly turns to face Feeder 2 to deal with a ball served at mid height to left hand side of the goalkeeper. Then ‘keeper moves quickly across to deal with high serve up into the top left hand corner area of the goal from hand from feeder 3.
Progression
A 4th feeder is introduced after the 3rd save to force the goalkeeper to recover quickly and move into the central area of the goal to receive a strike from the ground. It is important that the goalkeeper moves quickly into central position and that he/she is not off balance when Feeder 4 is striking the ball.
These drills can be demanding physically on your goalkeepers, and should be used with older goalkeepers who can handle the workload.
Please remember to work both sides.
By Wayne Henderson
